Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. We've all seen that Australians are stepping up to meet the health and economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Would the Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's plan to fight the virus and its economic effects is backing Australians in?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for her question, and can I commend her on this past year that she's been elected to this place almost now for the great work that she's done—and the many other members that have joined us since that last election.

Despite the tremendous challenges that our country faces, I and my government are very optimistic about Australia's future. We're very positive about this future. Some months ago I said Australians were strong but that strength would be put to the test in the weeks and months to follow. Australians are passing that test of strength each and every day. As we work through the many challenges that they have faced individually, personally, in their own lives, amongst their own families, in their own communities, in their own businesses, workplaces or wherever they may be, they are confronting and dealing with the challenges in a very uniquely Australian way, proving to the world, as we said when we gathered here soon after the outbreak of the COVID crisis, that we're demonstrating as a nation how effective a nation such as ours, a liberal democratic nation, can be in responding to the coronavirus. We're showing the way around the world with the success that Australians have been able to achieve.

They have confidence because we have a plan and that plan is working, but the job is not done. We're fighting the virus; flattening the curve, as the Minister for Health set out earlier today in his ministerial statement; extending the economic lifeline connecting to Australians to help them cross that bridge to the other side, as the Treasurer set out yesterday in his ministerial statement; buying us much needed time so now we are able to reopen the economy and the society, based on the important protections that we have put in place. We're building up our health system, scaling up our ICU capacity, expanding our testing regime and the COVIDSafe app, which we continue to encourage Australians each and every day to use, so we can reopen.

Building confidence and momentum then follows from that, as does resetting for growth in a post-COVID world. And Australians are more confident. Today's Westpac index of consumer confidence demonstrated this: a 16.4 per cent jump, the highest in 50 years, rebounding back from the terrible blow to confidence that was inflicted as a result of the COVID crisis. The ANZ confidence index is rebounding some 70 per cent from the big falls that we saw some several weeks ago, as Australians are feeling more confident—because they have confidence in the plan and the way forward. But ultimately they have confidence in themselves, their communities and their strength, and that is the key to Australia's success in combating this crisis and it will continue to be. We are in this together and Australians are succeeding together.